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Ottawa researchers to play lead role in new cancer immunotherapy studies

February 15, 2017

BioCanRx funds research into CAR-T and virus-infected cell therapy

Researchers from The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa will play a lead role in cutting-edge research on cancer immunotherapy, thanks to five new peer-reviewed research grants from BioCanRx, worth $5.5 million. BioCanRx is a Network of Centres of Excellence funded by the Canadian government and other partners. It is based at The Ottawa Hospital and led by Dr. John Bell. The new funding is part of a package of 16 grants awarded across the country worth $11 million.

Immunotherapy makes use of the body’s own immune system to fight cancer. Two of the new projects involve genetically modified immune cells (called CAR-T cells), which have shown great promise in clinical trials in the United States and Europe.

CAR-T cells are derived from a patient’s own T cells. While T cells can naturally kill cancer cells on their own, many cancer cells have found ways to deactivate T cells and escape their attack. CAR-T cells are T cells that have been “reactivated” to attack cancer cells through genetic modification. In some cases, CAR-T cells have been able to completely eliminate advanced cancers, particularly in children with blood cancers. However, CAR-T therapy also comes with significant risks and many questions remain.

The two CAR-T projects funded by BioCanRx will focus on manufacturing these cells in Canada and developing an evidence-based, patient-centered protocol for the first Canadian clinical trial of this technology.

Two additional projects involve using viruses to create personalized vaccines to help the body’s immune system attack cancer. In this approach, cancer cells from a patient would be grown in a lab and then infected with a virus. The virus-infected cells would then be injected back into the same patient. The hope is that these infected cells would stimulate the patient’s own immune system to attack the cancer cells. The researchers hope to optimize this approach in laboratory models of abdominal cancer and blood cancer, in preparation for clinical trials.

The final project involves improving the design, analysis and reporting of cancer immunotherapy studies in laboratory models. This will help researchers efficiently and effectively translate their most promising discoveries into clinical trials.

These projects are possible because The Ottawa Hospital has state-of-the-art research facilities supported by generous donors. For example, The Ottawa Hospital’s Centre for Innovative Cancer Research, where much of this research is based, was built with $9.5 million from The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.

Quotes

Dr. John Bell, senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital, professor at the University of Ottawa and Scientific Director of BioCanRx: “CAR-T therapy is a new approach that has the potential to revolutionize cancer treatment. As with all experimental cancer therapies, there is a need to carry out additional studies to optimize the safety and effectiveness of the treatment. BioCanRx funding will allow us to give Canadian patients across the country accelerated access to this exciting new therapy as safely as possible. We will also continue to learn how to make this treatment even better at fighting cancer.”

Dr. Natasha Kekre, scientist and bone marrow transplant specialist at The Ottawa Hospital and assistant professor at the University of Ottawa: “I came to The Ottawa Hospital last year because I wanted to help translate exciting laboratory discoveries into new therapies for patients, and Ottawa is one of the best places to do this. I’m delighted to be playing a role in four of these new projects.”

Dr. Manoj Lalu, anesthesiologist and associate scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and assistant professorat the University of Ottawa: “We want to make Canada’s first CAR-T trial safe and effective. We’re going to review all the previous research and consult with patients, clinicians and scientists to create a world-class trial protocol. This will help us bring this exciting technology to patients in a responsible way that works within Canada’s health system.”

Dr. Rebecca Auer, surgical oncologist and scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and associate professor at the University of Ottawa: “Cancer-fighting viruses have shown promise in both laboratory and clinical studies, but we want to make them even better. Our approach uses viruses to create a kind of personalized vaccine for each patient, which we hope will help the patient’s own immune system attack their cancer.”

Dr. Dean Fergusson,senior scientist and Director of the Clinical Epidemiology Program at The Ottawa Hospital as well as a professor at the University of Ottawa: “While many exciting discoveries are made in laboratories every year, few ever become successful human treatments. Our goal is to improve the design, analysis and reporting of cancer immunotherapy studies in laboratory models, so that researchers can efficiently and effectively translate their most promising discoveries into clinical trials.”

Researchers from Ottawa, Vancouver, Victoria and Montreal will work together to develop the protocols and infrastructure to manufacture the first CAR-T cells in Canada. The goal is to be ready to conduct clinical trials by the end of 2018. The first CAR-T trials in Canada will target blood cancers, but subsequent trials will likely involve other kinds of cancer, as well as CAR-T cells in combination with other therapies, such as cancer-fighting viruses.

Researchers from Ottawa, Victoria and Vancouver will create the most evidence-informed early phase clinical trial protocol produced to date. This world-class protocol for CAR-T cells to treat blood cancer will address the concerns raised by earlier CAR-T clinical trials by ensuring the eventual trial is feasible, safe, effective and economical. The team will review previous studies of CAR-T cells and consult with patients and physicians on their preferences for a clinical trial.

• Co-principal Investigators:

o Dr. Manoj Lalu (The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa)
o Dr. Dean Fergusson (The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa)

Researchers from Ottawa and Hamilton aim to use viruses to develop a personalized vaccine to fight the spread of abdominal cancer. The goal would be to grow a patient’s own cancer cells in the lab, and then infect them with a virus. The virus-infected cells would then be injected back into the same patient. The team has previously found that this kind of vaccine can eradicate large tumours in laboratory models of colon cancer. They will now be able to optimize the approach to prepare for human clinical trials.

Researchers from Ottawa and Hamilton aim to use viruses to develop a personalized vaccine to treat leukemia patients who have not responded to conventional treatments. The goal would be to grow a patient’s own cancer cells in the lab, and then infect them with a cancer-killing virus. The virus-infected cells would then be injected back into the same patient. This funding will help these researchers move their findings closer to clinical trials.

• Project Lead

o Dr. Natasha Kekre (The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa)

• Key Investigator

o Dr. Harold Atkins (The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa)
o Dr. John Bell (The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa)

Researchers from Ottawa, Montreal and Hamilton will help cancer biotherapeutics researchers improve the design, analysis and reporting of their preclinical studies, so that results can be more efficiently and effectively translated into human clinical trials. The researchers will review the current state of cancer biotherapeutics pre-clinical studies to better understand the attitudes and challenges faced by researchers in this field. Then they will develop a workshop and online resources to teach best practices for pre-clinical trials based on their findings.

• Project Co-leads

o Dr. Dean Fergusson (The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa)
o Dr. Manoj Lalu (The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa)

• Co-investigators

o Dr. Justin Presseau (The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa)
o Dr. Kelly Cobey (The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa)

The Ottawa Hospital: Inspired by research. Driven by compassionThe Ottawa Hospital is one of Canada’s largest learning and research hospitals with over 1,100 beds, approximately 12,000 staff and an annual budget of over $1.2 billion. Our focus on research and learning helps us develop new and innovative ways to treat patients and improve care. As a multi-campus hospital, affiliated with the University of Ottawa, we deliver specialized care to the Eastern Ontario region, but our techniques and research discoveries are adopted around the world. We engage the community at all levels to support our vision for better patient care. See www.ohri.ca for more information about research at The Ottawa Hospital.

The University of Ottawa—A crossroads of cultures and ideasThe University of Ottawa is home to over 50,000 students, faculty and staff, who live, work and study in both French and English. Our campus is a crossroads of cultures and ideas, where bold minds come together to inspire game-changing ideas. We are one of Canada’s top 10 research universities—our professors and researchers explore new approaches to today’s challenges. One of a handful of Canadian universities ranked among the top 200 in the world, we attract exceptional thinkers and welcome diverse perspectives from across the globe. www.uottawa.ca